Swim coach gets prison for student affair

Kenneth W. Fuller sentenced to 7 to 23 months in jail

Former swim coach Kenneth W. Fuller will spend 7 to 23 months in jail for having a sexual relationship with a female student.

A Chester County high-school swimming coach received a 7- to 23-month jail term on Tuesday for having an intimate relationship with a 17-year-old female student.

Chester County Court Judge David Bortner imposed the penalty on Kenneth W. Fuller, 48, of West Goshen Township, the former head boys’ and girls’ swimming coach at Bayard Rustin High School.

The judge also sentenced Fuller to a consecutive eight years of probation, but he made him eligible for work release in four months. Defense attorney Vincent P. DiFabio had sought probation while Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth B. Pitts recommended a 9- to 23-month prison term.

In addition to undergoing a sex-offender evaluation and following any recommended treatment, Bortner ordered Fuller not to have any contact with the victim, who is not being identified because of her age and the nature of the offenses, and not to have unsupervised contact with minors.

According to the criminal complaint, Fuller had sex with the student on three occasions between April 27 and May 2. In one instance, he called the girl’s school pretending to be her father and had the victim excused from school for a doctor’s appointment so he could meet her at a Kennett Square hotel on East Baltimore Pike.

Before leaving the hotel, Fuller gave the girl a document that stated that she had been treated May 2 at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the complaint said, adding that the girl turned in the medical excuse at school the following day.

According to his online Rustin biography, Fuller was a two-time swimming High School All-American, Collegiate All-Southeast Conference and three-time East Coast Conference Champion, becoming an Olympic trials qualifier. He swam at West Chester Henderson and Marple Newtown before moving on to Auburn University. He finished college with a degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University, where he was swim team captain and recognized as Drexel’s Outstanding Student Athlete. He is president of a West Chester company that deals with engineered water treatment equipment.

Online records indicate that Fuller has been affiliated with the Malvern Swimming Association, Pennypacker Country Club Swim Team, and the Wedgewood Swim Club.